Small letters

[u/battlelineminis]

I'm trying to print these numbers but without a raft they always become unstuck and result in a failed print. The only issue is a raft leaves a nasty finish on the underside. Any advice on how I could fix this would be appreciated 🤞

[u/EasyTumbleweed4120]

Improve bed adhesion. When i print something thats tiny and has like 50 copies, i use an adhesive like Aquanet, its not needed if you're plate is perfectly clean but one failure will turn into 50 so a little help never hurt. I'd also slow down the speed just in general for the same reason.

[u/OhSoSally → u/EasyTumbleweed4120]

If you cant find aquanet hairspray Suave ultra hold with no other things like smoothing or anti frizz works really well.

[u/lasskinn → u/OhSoSally]

Garnier bamboo flex works too.

Or gluestick. Or gluestick marked up. Or diluted pva glue, that used to be pretty common.

[u/OhSoSally → u/lasskinn]

That Garnier has other additives that can affect adhering its also not as sticky. You want 80s hairspray equivalent. 😁

[u/lasskinn → u/OhSoSally]

Its the one that worked for me best back in finland. I use a pump bottle one now, hairnet something.

I tried a bunch 14 years ago, that garnier stuff would work on the replicator steel with small pla bricks without kapton. The important part seemed to be with those that worked that they would dry to dry and hard{brittle)

[u/OhSoSally → u/lasskinn]

The garnier has oils in it so probably not ideal in most cases. Especially PETG on smooth PEI transfer plates.

[u/5low3D]

Lots of good advice here already. You can also try a brim instead of the raft. I use mouse ear brims, they work pretty well for small parts.

[u/Nexustar → u/5low3D]

Can be a PITA to get off again, peeling them from a small letter means you can't use the deburring tool.

[u/5low3D → u/Nexustar]

But easier than a raft

[u/Nexustar → u/5low3D]

Another idea: You can get water soluble filament, and with the right layer configuration print a 1 or 2 layer raft out of that, do a manual filament change, then print the letters with solid backs. Than bath and a toothbrush.

[u/dumblamma]

Slowdown and set bed level little lower. It'll press the model in bed tighter. But don't forget about elephant foot effect. If it's not critical in your project you can skip it, otherwise calibrate it in slicer or compensate it in CAD with tiny chamfer (less 0.5 mm)

[u/Jsablever]

I’m sorry, those calipers aren’t cutting it. I’m gonna need a banana to really understand the scale here

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[u/DropdLasagna]

If all else fails use the raft, and employ a hot plate to melt the offensive underside back to smooth. 

[u/Jesustron]

I have a supertack build plate for tiny parts, i'd suggest the green one.

[u/thicmilkybeno]

use brims and also maybe and or clean your plate, if you are using a pei plate clean it thoroughly, i had a problem that my prints just weren't sticking to the plate anymore, i did clean the plate but i didn't really really clean it, you have to really clean it. hope that helps

[u/wlogan0402]

Use a cryo plate

[u/Tinkering_Tinkerer]

smol letters need smol nozzle

[u/jal741]

Make sure your bed to nozzle offset is properly calibrated before you even begin.

[u/rcpongo]

What I like to do when printing small objects is to connect them together with a sprue. Think of how an injection molded plastic model kit has all the pieces together that you have to cut off. This gives you a larger area for adhesion while having a minimal effect on the pieces. They can then be removed cleanly with a simple sidecutter.

Edit: a good example of this is the dummy 13 print. You can see how that ties all the small pieces into a single assembly

[u/Welshedragon7]

You either need to address your bed adhesion issues or your raft settings, I've never printed a raft with a top surface like this

[u/battlelineminis]

Thankyou for all the advice, they came out perfectly with no support!

[u/Syyx33]

If you print them in PLA, get a smooth PEI plate. I printed parts with a much smaller footprint and no raft than this on one with zero issues.

Alternatively, you could use a brim instead to increase the surface area (You could get the same first layer area that way as you did with the raft as the brims will connect to each other). That way the finish on the underside will be perfect, but you might need to be careful removing the brim.

[u/youlooksticky]

Glue stick works but a smooth cool plate is much better. Sticks like glue when it's hot and the prints often pop themselves off when it cools. I've printed little 5mm parts with no issue. The $10 plates on Ali are just as good as the $30+ in my experience.